محفل

Arabic

Etymology

Noun of place from the root ح ف ل (ḥ-f-l). Compare Arabic حَفَلَ (ḥafala, “to gather, assemble”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /maħ.fil/

Noun

مَحْفِل • (maḥfil) m (plural مَحَافِل (maḥāfil))

1. place or time of assembly, assembly, council, circle, quarter

   مَحْفِل صُوفِيّ ― maḥfil ṣūfiyy ― Sufi lodge

   مَحْفِل مَاسُونِيّ ― maḥfil māsūniyy ― Masonic lodge

2. meeting, gathering, congregation

Declension

Declension of noun مَحْفِل (maḥfil)

Singular	basic singular triptote
	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	مَحْفِل maḥfil	الْمَحْفِل al-maḥfil	مَحْفِل maḥfil
Nominative	مَحْفِلٌ maḥfilun	الْمَحْفِلُ al-maḥfilu	مَحْفِلُ maḥfilu
Accusative	مَحْفِلًا maḥfilan	الْمَحْفِلَ al-maḥfila	مَحْفِلَ maḥfila
Genitive	مَحْفِلٍ maḥfilin	الْمَحْفِلِ al-maḥfili	مَحْفِلِ maḥfili
Dual	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	مَحْفِلَيْن maḥfilayn	الْمَحْفِلَيْن al-maḥfilayn	مَحْفِلَيْ maḥfilay
Nominative	مَحْفِلَانِ maḥfilāni	الْمَحْفِلَانِ al-maḥfilāni	مَحْفِلَا maḥfilā
Accusative	مَحْفِلَيْنِ maḥfilayni	الْمَحْفِلَيْنِ al-maḥfilayni	مَحْفِلَيْ maḥfilay
Genitive	مَحْفِلَيْنِ maḥfilayni	الْمَحْفِلَيْنِ al-maḥfilayni	مَحْفِلَيْ maḥfilay
Plural	basic broken plural diptote
	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	مَحَافِل maḥāfil	الْمَحَافِل al-maḥāfil	مَحَافِل maḥāfil
Nominative	مَحَافِلُ maḥāfilu	الْمَحَافِلُ al-maḥāfilu	مَحَافِلُ maḥāfilu
Accusative	مَحَافِلَ maḥāfila	الْمَحَافِلَ al-maḥāfila	مَحَافِلَ maḥāfila
Genitive	مَحَافِلَ maḥāfila	الْمَحَافِلِ al-maḥāfili	مَحَافِلِ maḥāfili

Descendants

• → Azerbaijani: məhfil, məhfəl
• → Bengali: মাহফিল (mahophil)
• → Classical Persian: مَحْفِل (mahfil)
  • Iranian Persian: مَحْفِل (mahfel)
  • Tajik: маҳфил (mahfil)
• → Hindustani:
  • Hindi: महफ़िल (mahfil)
  • Urdu: مَحْفِل (mahfil)
  • → English: mehfil
• → Ottoman Turkish: محفل
  • Turkish: mahfil, mahfel
• → Punjabi:
  • Gurmukhi script: ਮਹਿਫ਼ਲ (mahifal)
  • Shahmukhi script: مَحْفِل (maḥfil)
• → Swahili: mahafali (“graduation”)

Further reading

• Steingass, Francis Joseph (1884) “محفل”, in The Student's Arabic–English Dictionary‎^[1], London: W.H. Allen
• Wehr, Hans (1979) “محفل”, in J. Milton Cowan, editor, A Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic, 4th edition, Ithaca, NY: Spoken Language Services, →ISBN

Persian

Etymology

Borrowed from Arabic مَحْفِل (maḥfil, “assembly, congregation”), from the root ح ف ل (ḥ-f-l).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Persian) IPA^(key): [mah.ˈfil]

 

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [mäɦ.fɪ́l]

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [mäɦ.fɪ́l]
  • (Kabuli) IPA^(key): [mɑː.fɪ́l]
  • (Hazaragi) IPA^(key): [mɔː.fíl̥]

• (Iran, formal) IPA^(key): [mæɦ.fél̥]

• (Tajik, formal) IPA^(key): [mäɦ.fíl]

Readings
Classical reading?	mahfil
Dari reading?	mahfil
Iranian reading?	mahfel
Tajik reading?	mahfil

Noun

Regional synonyms of "party, social gathering"

Dari	مهمانی
Iranian Persian	محفل
Tajik	зиёфат

محفل • (mahfel)

1. (Iran) circle (of associates, e.g. in politics)
2. (Dari) party, social gathering
3. coterie, assembly

References

• Steingass, Francis Joseph (1892) “محفل”, in A Comprehensive Persian–English dictionary, London: Routledge & K. Paul
• Dehkhoda, Ali-Akbar (1931–) “محفل”, in Dehkhoda Dictionary Institute, editors, Dehkhoda Dictionary (in Persian), Tehran: University of Tehran Press

Urdu

Etymology

Borrowed from Arabic مَحْفِل (maḥfil, “assembly, congregation”), from the root ح ف ل (ḥ-f-l).

Pronunciation

• (Standard Urdu) IPA^(key): /məɦ.fɪl/

Noun

محفل • (mahfil) m (Hindi spelling महफ़िल)

1. assembly
2. congregation
3. gathering

References

• John T. Platts (2012 November 9 (last accessed)) “A Dictionary of Urdu, Classical Hindi, and English”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name)‎^[2]